Brown altering some philosophies to get UAlbany on track

Great Danes sprinkling in zone as young players get acclimated

UAlbany guard Antonio Rizzuto reacts to a play during a game against Monmouth Saturday Dec. 8, 2018 at the SEFCU Arena. (Phoebe Sheehan/Special to The Times Union)

UAlbany guard Antonio Rizzuto reacts to a play during a game against Monmouth Saturday Dec. 8, 2018 at the SEFCU Arena. (Phoebe Sheehan/Special to The Times Union)

Photo: Phoebe Sheehan

Photo: Phoebe Sheehan

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UAlbany guard Antonio Rizzuto reacts to a play during a game against Monmouth Saturday Dec. 8, 2018 at the SEFCU Arena. (Phoebe Sheehan/Special to The Times Union)

UAlbany guard Antonio Rizzuto reacts to a play during a game against Monmouth Saturday Dec. 8, 2018 at the SEFCU Arena. (Phoebe Sheehan/Special to The Times Union)

Photo: Phoebe Sheehan

Brown altering some philosophies to get UAlbany on track

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Albany

Will Brown took to Twitter the other day to tell the story of picking up his 8-year-old son, Landon, from basketball practice. Landon informed his father, head coach for the University at Albany, that he learned two zone defenses that night.

"I started to get the chills when I heard zone defense," Brown tweeted.

The Great Danes (3-6), trying to break in nearly an entire roster of new players, are still feeling their oats as they navigate their nonconference schedule, which continues Tuesday night at Yale.

"We played more zone defense than we have all year," Brown said. "With this group, we're not where we need to be defensively, so we have to mix and match until we get there."

Sprinkling in an occasional 1-3-1 zone, which can be effective when a rangy 6-foot-6 player such as Devonte Campbell or Malachi de Sousa is at the top, UAlbany overcame a 13-point deficit to get its first home victory over a Division I opponent.

Yale (4-3) figures to present more problems than an 0-11 Monmouth team. Playing at home for only the second time, the Bulldogs are coming off a 93-69 loss at No. 3 Duke, a game they led with eight minutes to play in the first half.

Picked to finish third in the Ivy League, Yale is averaging a league-best 83.3 points per game. The Bulldogs are coached by 1986 UAlbany graduate James Jones.

"They've beaten Cal of the Pac-12," Brown said. "They've beaten Miami of the ACC. They had Duke on the ropes in the first half. We could be running into a buzzsaw, even though we've had some great games against them. That's how good they are. They're clearly the best team in the Ivy."

The Great Danes have won four of the five meetings since 2013, including last season, 80-72.

That was a much different UAlbany team. Campbell is the only returning starter. Ahmad Clark, whose team-leading 20.2 scoring average ranks second in the America East, is the only other scholarship player back from a year ago.

Brown has been trying to blend in a mix of freshmen and junior-college transfers. The Danes got a huge boost against Monmouth with the debut of freshman Antonio Rizzuto, who missed the first eight games because of a series of ailments.

"I love Antonio's competitiveness," Brown said. "He apologizes to me when he doesn't play well, apologizes to me when he misses shots. He's a winner. Those are guys you want in our program.

"He's the type of guy that has allowed our program to be successful – the Brian Lillises, the Greig Stires, the Sam Rowleys, just tough, hard-nosed kids that want to win and are good teammates. You can't get enough of those guys."

Brown said he also was enthused by Campbell's second-half output. He had not scored a field goal in what essentially was four halves of basketball until getting 11 points after intermission against Monmouth, matching a career high with three 3-pointers made.

"I said to him," Brown said, " 'Go back to being Devonte Campbell, the all-America East defensive player, and stop worrying about every single shot, because it's impacting your individual defense and your team defense. The shots are going to fall. Just take good ones.' "